By Aliyu DANLADI
A Medical Researcher, Dr Bamidele Iwalokun, on Wednesday called on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to collaborate with other organisations like medical research institute for effective disease surveillance.
Iwalokun, who is the Head, Immunology and Vaccinology Research Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba, made the call in Lagos.
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari on Nov. 13 signed into law the bill establishing the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as the chief public health agency.
The agency, which has been in charge of disease surveillance, preparedness and control in Nigeria, was established in 2011 and had been without any legislative backing until signing of the law.
Iwalokun said: “For NCDC to function more effectively and also to achieve quality health information system, it is important for it to collaborate with other organisations like NIMR for effective disease surveillance.
“This implies centralising and coordinating surveillance activities and also strengthening emergency operations at the national, state and local government levels with adequate training.
“This will build the competence of the workforce at all levels; improve incident management and the quality of data that feed into the health information system.
“It will also make health decisions by the government in the areas of strategic planning, resource allocation, case management, preparedness and disease prevention more impactful.’’
He said that the centre needed to reinforce the strategies for addressing the usual delay in national response to outbreaks like cholera and meningitis that emanate from the rural areas.
“Another delay is seen in the area of vaccine procurement for targeted or mass immunisation campaign during outbreaks of vaccinable diseases such as meningitis,’’ the researcher said.
Iwalokun, however, advised health and other partnering organisations to recognise the status of NCDC and give it all the technical and operational supports needed to save Nigerians from the plaques of epidemics.
“It is important to know that NCDC now has the instrument to mobilise resources to function effectively as the chief public health agency in the country,’’ he said
